Brands are on the hook now to keep raising the bar for consumers – every year that bar just gets higher and higher and consumers tolerance for brands who are not considering curated experiences, delivering on hyper-personalisation strategies, offering true value in loyalty and rewards and getting ahead of their competitive curve for AI-driven experiences.
Once upon a time, when eCommerce was shiny and new and it was exciting to be able to get online in the evening to shop for products you only could buy if you were travelling to the US for example (GenX will remember this!), consumers were in a transactional mindset.
Websites were set up to deliver on a search for a product the consumer had in mind to track down.
However, if we look at the eCommerce stats of Asian market shoppers, the trends tell quite a story.
➜ In 2020, 80% of purchases online started with a search for a product.
➜ Today, 80% of purchases online are derived from a product recommendation.
What does this mean?
Well, a key take out is that hyper-personalised product feeds are now key to a shopping experience and how consumers will research and buy.
Online marketplaces in Asia are combining hyper-personalisation with infinite scroll and elements of entertainment to shift the way consumers shop and spend. Search engines can provide a lot of insights to us all in what consumers set out to purchase and the basis of their shopping intent, but there are other aspects that eCommerce retailers need to consider.
Trust is the biggest factor.
Consumers want to feel they are getting the right information and recommendations from the sources they trust and value most.
The creator economy is now forming the area of focus for retailers considering the next generation of eCommerce trending.
The fundamentals lie within Search, Reviews and Personalisation.
Creators and Influencers now provide a more human connection back into the mix of storefronts or popups, online stores and social feeds.
Influencers provide retailers to expand their audience reach to new segments and customising experiences or recommendations. Creators now hold the keys to engagement for retailers – how products can be used, worn, consumed and demonstrating relevant, entertaining and impactful connections to brand and purchase cycles.
Take this another step forward and you’ll arrive at the future of shopping with AI.
GenZ are already increasingly comfortable with AI taking over their decision making and trusting new experiences and recommendations to be delivered to them without doing any of the shopping themselves.
That is the power in the level of customisation, personalisation and recommendation that stems from data and AI driven shopping experiences for younger demographics who feel comfortable in the trust they place in algorithms and AI to analyse their tastes, preferences, social interactions, favourite creators and brands and past purchase behaviours.
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